Bank of America Fined $1.21B but No Charges: CZ Highlights Double Standard

Bank of America shares dropped up to 9% on Wednesday, one day after it acknowledged deliberate lapses in anti-money laundering controls and consented to a $1.21 billion penalty. No individual faced criminal charges.

Changpeng Zhao (CZ) spent four months in a US prison due to AML lapses at his exchange. On Wednesday, the Binance founder pointed out the disparity.

What Bank of America Admitted and Why Shares Fell

The U.S. Treasury stated that the bank delayed reporting over $5 billion in suspicious transactions. More than $1 billion of those involved national security issues, including suspected Chinese money laundering networks.

According to the announcement, the bank frequently depended on law enforcement inquiries to identify issues instead of using its own monitoring system.

The $1.21 billion penalty reduced the quarter's profit by $0.17 per share, a point made by BeInCrypto on Tuesday. Even excluding the fine, adjusted profit of $1.08 per share fell short of forecasts, according to TipRanks.

CZ, meanwhile, mentioned deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs), which allow prosecutors to drop charges when a company meets certain terms.

No one went to prison.
No home confinement. No DPAs.
No one was even charged.

Water under the bridge. Onwards! https://t.co/HgF8nyWXVY

— CZ 🔶 BNB (@cz_binance) October 14, 2026

Why Did No One at Bank of America Face Charges?

The penalties were levied by three Treasury agencies. These bodies are civil regulators that impose fines rather than bring criminal charges.

Criminal charges originate from the Justice Department. None of the Treasury announcements on Tuesday mentioned that department.

The Justice Department altered its approach in 2025. A Criminal Division memo from May 2025 expanded the ways companies could avoid prosecution by self-reporting, cooperating, and remediating issues.

According to law firm Paul Weiss, there were 21 corporate guilty pleas in 2025, which they interpreted as a deceleration. In 2013, then-Attorney General Eric Holder outlined a similar issue to senators.

“I am concerned that the size of some of these institutions becomes so large that it does become difficult to prosecute them.”

What Made the Binance Case Criminal

The Justice Department stated in its filings that Binance never filed any suspicious activity report with US authorities.

Binance also allowed Americans to conduct $898 million in trades with users based in Iran, violating US sanctions. According to prosecutors, CZ told employees it was better to ask forgiveness than permission.

Binance entered a guilty plea and paid $4.3 billion. CZ received a four-month sentence, although prosecutors had sought three years. He later described underestimating compliance as his biggest mistake while building Binance, as noted by BeInCrypto.

Banks have also faced criminal penalties. TD Bank pleaded guilty in 2024 after its staff aided launderers in transferring funds. More than 24 individuals were charged by prosecutors, including two bank employees.

How US Enforcement Shifted Since CZ's Sentence

In April 2025, the Justice Department directed prosecutors to cease “regulation by prosecution” of crypto platforms. It also dissolved its national crypto enforcement team.

Six months after that, President Donald Trump granted a pardon to CZ. Bank of America is now required to fund an external review to uncover suspicious transactions it overlooked.